A bruised and battered New Jersey is struggling to recover today from one of the worst storms to ever hit the state.

At least three people were killed as Hurricane Sandy roared on shore Monday night with deadly winds and devastating surges of sea and river water that flooded communities across the state.

"The devastation is unprecedented — nothing we've ever seen reported before," Gov. Chris Christie said at a morning press conference.

The National Guard has been dispatched in several areas and rescue crews are helping people get out of flooded houses. Search and rescue crews are also combing the Jersey Shore looking for survivors.

A man and woman who got out of their car in Mendham were killed by a falling tree Monday. Their children, who were inside the car, were injured, police said. Another person was killed by a falling tree in Hawthorne in Passaic County.

It is unclear if anyone was hurt at the Shore Monday by surging water at the height of the storm.

Christie called the damage to the Jersey Shore "unthinkable." Lavallette, Ortley Beach and Seaside Park were largely leveled by the storm surge. A boardwalk roller coaster and log flume are in the ocean, the governor said. Houses along the shoreline were washed away or ripped from their foundations.

"There are houses in the middle of Route 35," Christie said.
Rescues were also under way in Bergen County after the storm surge caused the Hackensack River to overflow a natural berm, leaving part of Moonachie and Little Ferry under water.
At least 2.4 million people are without power across the state, utility officials said.
"This is twice the number of impacted households as Hurricane Irene," Christie said, noting it took 10 days or longer for power to be restored in some areas during that storm last year.
Coastal flood levels were staggering during Hurricane Sandy, according to the National Weather Service..
Records were shattered up and down the New Jersey coast. In Sandy Hook, water levels had broken the previous record by more than 3 feet before the tidal station was knocked out by the storm. At the time, the water was still rising.
“Usually when you set a tidal record, you’re setting it by fractions of a foot,” said Dean Iovino, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Mount Holly office. “To have a tidal record shattered like that is just, wow.”
Along the entire Raritan Bay shoreline, water levels were likely even higher.
“We forecast for these levels, but we couldn’t say what would happen in this town or that town,” Iovino said. “There’s nothing to compare it to.”
Peak winds were also exceedingly rare. Winds reached 89 mph in Surf City, 87 mph in Sandy Hook and 88 mph as far inland as Montclair. Most parts of the state experienced wind gusts in excess of 60 mph, weather data shows.
Nearly 175 roads remain closed across the state, including the New Jersey Turnpike between interchanges 10 and 14. Transportation officials said rail cars washed on to the Turnpike near Exit 12 in Carteret. The Garden State Parkway reopened this morning after three quarters of the roadway was closed during the storm.

The Lincoln Tunnel remained the only way to get into Manhattan this morning because of closures at the Holland Tunnel and George Washington Bridge.

President Obama declared much of New Jersey a disaster area, including Atlantic, Cape May, Hudson, Essex, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean and Union counties.

Nearly 450 National Guard high-water vehicles are available to help with rescues in local municipalities, state officials said.

Across New Jersey, more than 5,500 people are in state and local shelters, including sites at Rutgers University in New Brunswick and Mennen Arena in MorrisTownship. An additional shelter will be opened today at the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway.

NJ Transit remains shut down with damage and debris on every line, state officials said.

There are also questions about the state's water system. At least 10 water facilities have minor or major problems, state officials said.

Most of the state's health care facilties are operating on generator power. But 91 facilties, including 29 hospitals, are experiencing power problems, officials said.